Access Now, Inc. was officially born in March of 1998, and subsequently joined by many individuals who gave their support—morally, logistically and financially. In turn, Access Now pledged integrity, hard work, effectiveness and fairness to the disabled community as well as to the business community in regard to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In December of 1999, Access Now received its official designation from the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 charitable organization. This means that all contributions are tax-deductible (in part or in total) for the year in which they are made. (THIS NEEDS TO BE REVISED AS TAX LAWS HAVE CHANGED).
Experience has taught us that we generally do not succeed in achieving compliance without instituting a lawsuit, when appropriate; i.e., when we have determined that we have a bona-fide complaint against a given entity. However, our goal in the near term has been to obviate the necessity and expense of going to trial by instead entering, during the course of litigation, into negotiations that conclude with a Stipulation for Settlement. The Stipulation for Settlement details how and within what time frame an entity will make the alterations that will result in its compliance under the law.
We also try to minimize the legal and consultant fees incurred. Our ultimate goal is to sufficiently spread the word whereby public accommodations will make the necessary alterations on their own to comply with the law, instead of the prevailing attitude of waiting for someone to catch up with them.
We believe that we have been fulfilling our promise as to the first goal and we are trying to fulfill our mission as to the second goal.